Cancer, Sex, and Vaccines (Vox)

The public health cost of America's ambivalence toward HPV vaccination

Head and neck cancers related to human papillomavirus (HPV) are becoming more common, yet barely half of America's children have received vaccines known to be effective in preventing HPV infection. The question, according to a report in Vox, is why?

The article traces the growing public health problem to the 1960s' "sexual revolution" that broke taboos on oral sex. It took a while but HPV, transmitted sexually, is now recognized as causing many cases of oropharyngeal cancer in both sexes, along with cervical cancer in women.

Vox lays blame for poor uptake of HPV vaccines on physicians who fail to recommend it -- "in part because of the sexual stigma" -- as well as on the anti-vaccine movement and on state governments, which could make HPV vaccination mandatory for school entry but mostly don't.

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